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Airport Amenity: DVD Rentals

By J. D. BIERSDORFER

Published: September 24, 2000

AIR travelers, faced with a flight where the entertainment options consist of miniature pretzel packets and edited versions of movies that were bad to begin with, can now literally take matters into their own hands at some airports. InMotion Pictures offers rentals of portable DVD (digital video disk) players and movies to airline passengers.

Less than two years old and based in Jacksonville, Fla., InMotion Pictures currently has outlets in the airports that serve Portland, Ore., Seattle, Denver, San Jose, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia and San Diego, with kiosks planned for more locations including Atlanta, Orlando, Cincinnati and La Guardia Airport in New York by the end of the year.

Unfortunate souls trapped in the terminal while waiting out long flight delays are also potential customers. The company's kiosks are open up to 16 hours a day (varying by location) and the rental price ranges from $10 to $12.50 a day for rental of a battery-powered, portable DVD player for a round-trip flight. The fee includes one movie rental a day plus earphones and an AC adapter.

The cost is the same for customers who rent a player, film disk and set of earphones for use in the airport, or for a one-way rental (only available if their final destination is an airport that also has an InMotion Pictures store).

Extra movies can be rented for $4 a title, and additional earphones may be obtained for $2.50.

Travelers already toting their own portable players or laptop computers equipped with DVD drives can also just rent movie disks, which cost $5 for a five-day period.

Reservations and more information on using the service can be found on the Web at www.inmotionpictures.com or by calling (877) 383-8646.

The DVD format, in which a high-quality, digitized copy of an entire feature film can be transferred onto a disk the size of an audio CD, is rapidly becoming a popular format for home entertainment. Portable DVD players, some of which are about the size of a hardback book when closed, now feature bright color screens that average between five and seven inches of diagonal viewing space as well as Dolby Digital sound.

InMotion Pictures keeps a hefty list of films available to rent with the players. ''We have about 200 different titles,'' said Barney Freedman, a co-founder of the privately held company. The films offered range from popular hits like ''The Sixth Sense'' to artier fare like ''Being John Malkovich,'' plus a selection of comedies and family and children's films.

Seat-back video screens and multiple movie choices are becoming more prevalent on airlines including US Airways and Virgin Atlantic, especially on long-haul flights. American, for one, is even lending personal DVD players in first and business classes, also on long flights.

But Mr. Freedman feels there is indeed room for the service his company provides, in spite of some airlines' increased efforts in this area.

''When their options aren't available or don't appeal,'' he said, ''we can provide the entertainment.''

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